Don Rakes is on a mission, 43 years in the making.

The 55-year-old Orting native is campaigning to name the new $3.7 million high school stadium after his childhood idol Bill Hobert, a star athlete who drew attention from several professional baseball teams.

Hobert’s sports ambitions and other dreams went unfulfilled when he died in the Vietnam War at the age of 20.

The as-yet-unnamed stadium, which seats 1,200, was dedicated Sept. 11 for the first Cardinals football game of the season.

The Orting School Board will appoint a committee in the next month to pick a name. Rakes thinks the William Joseph Hobert Stadium would be a worthy tribute to the formidable young pitcher he idolized.

“He put Orting on the map,” said Rakes, who is retired after 28 years working the warehouse for Pasquier Panel Products in Sumner. “As soon as they turned a shovel (on stadium construction), I started talking to people.”

Hobert, a 1965 graduate of Orting High School, was a three-sport athlete, starring in football and basketball in addition to pitching the Cardinals to three consecutive Cross-Sound league championships. In his sophomore year, the left-hander hurled five straight no-hitters, two of them perfect games.

During the summer, he made a name for himself in both national Babe Ruth and Connie Mack programs, leading his Connie Mack team to the state tournament’s championship game.

“All the kids looked up to him,” said Rakes, who also remembered Hobert as a conscientious person who volunteered to umpire at Rakes’ Little League games.

Once, when Rakes was 10, he got a third strike while Hobert was behind the plate. In a fit of frustration, Rakes tossed down his bat.

“I was embarrassed because Bill saw me strike out,” Rakes said. “He could have thrown me out, but he just said, ‘Donny.’ And that was enough.”

Hobert won a baseball scholarship to Yakima Junior College but was drafted shortly after, becoming a squad leader in Vietnam in the 7th Cavalry Division. In August 1966, his squad drew enemy fire in a rice paddy. Hobert took a direct hit from a mortar shell.

He received a posthumous Bronze Star for his valor.

Hobert’s younger brother Terry said he put himself in danger so his squad could identify the location of the enemy.

“I know he was a good athlete, but there’s been a ton of good athletes that have come out of Orting,” Terry Hobert said this week.

“What I’m proud of is how he gave his life.”

To honor his brother’s legacy, Terry named his son Billy Joe after the straight-laced, generous brother he knew.

Billy Joe Hobert went on to play quarterback at Puyallup High School and the University of Washington and was drafted into the National Football League in 1993.

At the Sept. 11 opening of the new stadium, Rakes passed out pamphlets to generate word-of-mouth interest. At the same game, the school district distributed pencils and cards to solicit name suggestions from the more than 2,000 people in the crowd.

Superintendent Michelle Curry said this week that upon a quick glance at the submitted cards, the frontrunners were Cardinal Stadium, Mount Rainier Stadium, and “someone’s name.” She declined to be specific so as not to give the person any advantage.

The naming committee, which will consist of about 15 people, has the option of doing public surveys or hearings to get more public input, Curry said.

“We’ll take a fair representation from our town,” she said. “We want students, we want parents, we want community members.”

After the research, the committee will come up with several options to present to the School Board for final approval.

There is no set deadline for the naming of the stadium, Curry said.

Kim Farnes, who owns the Around the Corner Café in Orting with husband Carl Scanson, displayed a reader board mid-September in support of naming the stadium after Hobert.

“I think anything that encourages people to learn about the history of Orting is great,” said Farnes, who is running for mayor.

Incumbent Mayor Cheryl Temple said she appreciates the idea of naming the stadium after “someone who has done Orting and our country such a great service.

“I know there’s folks in town who feel strongly about naming it after Mr. Hobert,” she said.

Terry Hobert said that no matter the outcome, he’s proud the small valley city is talking about his brother.

“It’s like giving him a little life again.”

Joyce Chen: 253-597-8426

joyce.chen@thenewstribune.com